Vikramaditya Motwane (born 6 December 1976) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

. He is known for films like '' Udaan'' (2010), ''

Lootera ''Lootera'' (; ) is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language period romantic drama film directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and partially based on author O. Henry's 1907 short story ''The Last Leaf''. It is the second film directed by Motwane after the critic ...

'' (2013) and ''

AK vs AK ''AK vs AK'' is a 2020 Indian black comedy thriller film directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and is the first release under his banner Andolan Films. Anurag Kashyap, the executive producer and dialogue writer, also stars alongside Anil Kapoor as ...

'' (2020). His directorial debut '' Udaan'' (2010) was selected to compete in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

category at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and also won seven

Filmfare awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

. His second film was ''

'', a big-budget

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

period romance, released on 5 July 2013. His third film was '' Trapped'', a survival drama starring

Rajkummar Rao Rajkummar Rao (born Raj Kumar Yadav; 31 August 1984) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi films. He has appeared in more than 30 films since 2010, and is the recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, three ...

, released theatrically on 17 March 2017. His fourth film was ''

Bhavesh Joshi Superhero ''Bhavesh Joshi Superhero'' is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language vigilante action film directed by Vikramaditya Motwane under Phantom Films banner and co-written by Motwane along with Anurag Kashyap and Abhay Koranne. It stars Harshvardhan Kapoor i ...

'', released theatrically on 1 June 2018. Motwane is the creator of

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

's first Indian series '' Sacred Games''. In 2020, his film ''

'' was released.

Early and personal life

His father is Sindhi while his mother is

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

. He is married to photographer Ishika Mohan, who also appeared in his movie ''Udaan'' as Rohan's mother.

Career

Motwane was a long-time assistant of

Sanjay Leela Bhansali Sanjay Leela Bhansali (; born 24 February 1963) is an Indian filmmaker, director, screenwriter, and music composer who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards, ten Filmfar ...

, and collaborated with Bhansali on the films ''

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam ''Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'' () is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. It was released internationally as ''Straight From the Heart''. The film stars Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn. Ba ...

'' (1999) and ''

Devdas ''Devdas'' ( bn, দেবদাস, transliterated as ''Debdās'') is a Bengali romance novel written by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. The story pivots a tragic triangle linking Devdas, an archetypal lover in viraha (separation); Paro, his forbidden ...

'' (2002). He directed the song sequences in

Anurag Kashyap Anurag Kashyap (born 10 September 1972) is an Indian filmmaker and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to film, the Government of France a ...

's unreleased film ''

Paanch ''Paanch'' (English: ''Five'') is a 2003 Indian crime thriller film written and directed by Anurag Kashyap in his directing debut, starring Kay Kay Menon, Aditya Srivastava, Vijay Maurya, Joy Fernandes and Tejaswini Kolhapure. The film is "loo ...

'' (2003) and was

Choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

Deepa Mehta Deepa Mehta, (; born 1 January 1950) is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996 film), ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth (1998 film), Earth'' (1998), and ''Water (2005 film), Water'' (2005 ...

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-nominated film ''

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

'' (2005). Motwane released his debut feature film, entitled '' Udaan'' (2010), for Anurag Kashyap's production house,

Anurag Kashyap Films Anurag Kashyap Films Pvt. Ltd. (AKFPL) is a film production company based in Mumbai, it was founded by director Anurag Kashyap in 2009. It is known for making art house or new wave cinema in Bollywood, like ''Dev D'' (2009), '' Udaan'' (2010), ...

, on 16 July 2010.,‘I feel very pressurized right now’: Vikramaditya Motwane

Mint (newspaper) ''Mint'' is an Indian financial daily newspaper published by HT Media, a Delhi-based media group which is controlled by the K. K. Birla family that also publishes ''Hindustan Times''. It mostly targets readers who are business executives and ...

, 20 April 2010. which won seven

including

Filmfare critics award for best movie The Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film is awarded during annual Filmfare Awards, given by the Filmfare magazine. The awards are the oldest and most prominent film awards given for Hindi films in India. The yearly awards started in 1954. Mov ...

and also won him the Best Director Award at the 2011 Star Screen Awards. Motwane's second film, a period romance called ''

'', was released on 5 July 2013. Motwane's third film was a survival drama called '' Trapped''. The film had its world premiere at the

Mumbai Film Festival The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a public trust that organises the annual international film festival in Mumbai famously known as the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. Actor, producer and author Priyanka Chopra Jonas is the Chairperson ...

on 26 October 2016, where it was praised and received a

Standing ovation A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim. In Ancient Rome returning military commanders (such as Marcus Licinius Crassus a ...

. The film was released theatrically on 17 March 2017 to universal critical acclaim. The movie also won the award for 'Best Asian Film' by

Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival The Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) is a Swiss film festival dedicated to fantastic movies. It was created in 2000 and is now renowned internationally as one of the foremost film festivals in the world for genre cinema. Th ...

in 2017. Motwane created American streaming company

's first Indian series ' Sacred Games', based on the novel of the same name by Vikram Chandra and directed it along with

. The series was met with critical acclaim and Netflix then commissioned a second season for it later. Motwane was co-owner of

Phantom Films Phantom Films was an Indian film production and distribution company established by Anurag Kashyap, director Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Madhu Mantena and the former head of UTV Spotboy, Vikas Bahl. It was founded in 2011 by all four of the ...

, a film production company, with

Vikas Bahl Vikas Bahl is an Indian filmmaker, best known for directing and scripting the comedy drama film ''Queen'' (2013). Early life and education Bahl was born and brought up in Lajpat Nagar in Delhi, and his father worked with the Indian Oil Corpor ...

, and

Madhu Mantena Madhu Varma Mantena is an Indian film producer and entrepreneur involved in the production and distribution of films across Hindi, Telugu, and Bengali cinema. Film career In 2008, Madhu Mantena co-produced '' Ghajini'' (2008) which was the ...

that dissolved in 2018. In June 2020, it was announced that Motwane will be adapting the 2019 non-fiction book '' Black Warrant'' into a web series. The rights are jointly acquired by his production company Andolan Films and writer-journalist Josy Joseph's Confluence Media.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Motwane, Vikramaditya 1976 births Living people Indian film choreographers Hindi-language film directors Indian male screenwriters Sindhi people Bengali people Filmfare Awards winners Screen Awards winners Hindi screenwriters Screenwriters from Maharashtra 21st-century Indian film directors Film directors from Mumbai Film producers from Mumbai